The Lord Chief Justice makes the following Rules under sections 144(1) and 145(1)(a) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980(1) and section 2(2)(a) of the Civil Evidence Act 1995(2).

In accordance with section 144 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 he has consulted with the rule committee appointed under that section and makes these Rules with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor.

Citation and Commencement

1. These Rules may be cited as the Magistrates’ Courts (Domestic Violence Protection Order Proceedings) Rules 2011 and shall come into force on 30 June 2011.

Disapplication of section 2(1) the 1995 Act

4. Section 2(1) (notice of proposal to adduce hearsay evidence) of the 1995 Act does not apply to DVPO proceedings.

Exclusion of the 1999 Rules

5.—(1) Rule 2 (application and interpretation) of the 1999 Rules is amended as follows.

(2) After rule 2(3) insert—

“(4)These rules shall not apply to Domestic Violence Protection Order proceedings as defined in “DVPO proceedings” under rule 2 (application and interpretation) of the Magistrates’ Courts (Domestic Violence Protection Order Proceedings) Rules 2011.”.

Application for a DVPO in the magistrates’ court

6. In an application for a DVPO, the application, in accordance with section 27(2) of the 2010 Act, must be made by complaint and, accordingly, when an application for a DVPO is made, the applicant shall be deemed to be a complainant, the respondent to be a defendant and any notice given under section 27(5) of the 2010 Act to be a summons, but nothing in this rule shall be construed as enabling a warrant of arrest to be issued for failure to appear in answer to any such notice.

Lord Judge, C.J.

I concur

Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor

J Djanogly

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Ministry of Justice

6th June 2011

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

These rules make provision in respect of proceedings in the magistrates’ court for applications for Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) under the Crime and Security Act 2010 (c.17) (the 2010 Act).

Rule 5 amends rule 2 of the Magistrates’ Courts (Hearsay Evidence in Civil Proceedings) Rules 1999 (SI 1999/681) (the 1999 Rules) to exclude the 1999 rules in respect of applications for DVPOs. The 1999 Rules make further provision concerning hearsay evidence, including the contents of hearsay notices (rule 3), the procedure to call witnesses for cross-examination on hearsay evidence (rule 4), credibility and the use of previous inconsistent statements (rule 5) and the service of documents (rule 6).

The provisions under the 1995 Act and 1999 Rules have been respectively disapplied or excluded because they are either incompatible with the procedures prescribed for applying for DVPOs under the 2010 Act or else cease to have effect in consequence of the disapplication or exclusion of other of these provisions.

Section 27 of the 2010 Act provides that an application for a DVPO must be made by complaint to the magistrates’ court. Rule 6 prescribes the procedure to be followed in such circumstances.

Options/Help

Print Options

Print The Whole Instrument

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made):The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Explanatory Memorandum

Explanatory Memorandum sets out a brief statement of the purpose of a Statutory Instrument and provides information about its policy objective and policy implications. They aim to make the Statutory Instrument accessible to readers who are not legally qualified accompany any Statutory Instrument or Draft Statutory Instrument laid before Parliament from June 2004 onwards.

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

the original print PDF of the as enactedversion that was used for the print copy

lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item

confers power and blanket amendment details

all formats of all associated documents

correction slips

links to related legislation and further information resources

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

the original print PDF of the as made version that was used for the print copy